Paranoia is a hell of a drug. According to research from the University of Chicago, at least 50 percent of Americans believe in at least one conspiracy theory. Conspiracy theories vary in subject but are ultimately rooted in the idea that there is some singular enemy to blame and that life is not essentially a confusingly chaotic Kafka-esque nightmare of accidents and opportunism.
The best-known and best-preserved section of the Great Wall was built in the 14th through 17th centuries A.D., during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).
During the Cultural Revolution (1966â76), hundreds of kilometres of the Great Wall â already damaged in the wars of the last century and eroded by wind and rain â were deliberately destroyed by fervent Red Guards who regarded it as part of the . Four Olds  to be eradicated in the new China.